Calgary Herald

UNSIGHTLY

Blindfolde­d protesters against Brexit hold a banner outside the European Commission headquarte­rs during a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister Theresa May in Brussels on Thursday.

- CHRIS KNIGHT cknight@postmedia.com

The first time Hans Petter Moland made this film, it was set in Norway, starred Stellan Skarsgård and was called In Order of Disappeara­nce — a little joke, since every time a character died, his name would flash on the screen in memoriam. When it received a limited Canadian release in 2016, I remember thinking an English-language remake of this violent revenge fantasy would probably star Liam Neeson.

The moral of the original film? Be careful what you wish for. Because here we are, two and a half years later, with Moland reprising his directing duties and Neeson stepping into the role of Nels Coxman, a mild-mannered snowplow operator who has recently been named citizen of the year for keeping the roads open in the wilderness outside Denver, Colo.

His life changes when his son, who works at the local airport, is killed in a drug heist gone wrong. The killers make it look like the young man died of a drug overdose and the police are satisfied with that. Nels thinks otherwise, so he saws off a shotgun, revs up his plow and takes matter into his own hands. He’s still hewing a path of civilizati­on in the wilderness, just more bloodily. (That last line was cribbed from my review of the original movie, by the way. Two can play this game, Moland!)

There’s not much to recommend Cold Pursuit if you’ve already seen In Order of Disappeara­nce, but not many did. The movie earned a grand total of $50,000 in its North American release. And so those new to the story can enjoy the sight of

Neeson getting his hands dirty as he kills his way up the chain of command of a local drug cartel. No need to worry too much about whether Skarsgård wore it better.

Both characters are aware of the same bizarre trick: If you want to dispose of a body, first roll it in chicken wire before throwing it down a waterfall. The mesh will weigh the corpse down while allowing fish to eat its flesh.

Also, both men play by the ancient rule that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In the original, Nels’ murderous vendetta accidental­ly ignites a feud between a Norwegian gang and a Serbian one. Here the “outsiders” are an Indigenous band led by White Bull (Tom Jackson), providing an edgy, who-washere-first vibe, not to mention a little dark humour.

Nels’ various quarry aren’t usually on the screen long enough to register as more than targets, and the film has almost nothing for its female characters to do. (Laura Dern plays Nels’ wife, but departs early in the picture, leaving behind a blank piece of paper, which ironically says it all.) But Tom Bateman deserves praise for his role as gang leader Trevor (Viking) Calcote, a single dad who tells his pacifist son to read Lord of the Flies: “It has all the answers you need.”

Neeson’s controvers­ial comments of late mean a search for “Liam Neeson revenge fantasy” will turn up things that have nothing to do with this movie, which could hurt its appeal. On the other hand, his roles of the past few years, back through Widows, The Commuter, Run All Night, Non-Stop, Unknown and all the way to the first Taken, released 10 years ago last month, suggest his specialty is playing characters who are not to be trifled with.

So it’s not surprising that he stars in this remake. The wonder is that he didn’t learn Norwegian and do the original.

 ?? FRaNCISCO SECO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ??
FRaNCISCO SECO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 ?? LIONSGATE ?? Liam Neeson stars as a Colorado snowplow driver avenging the death of his son in Cold Pursuit.
LIONSGATE Liam Neeson stars as a Colorado snowplow driver avenging the death of his son in Cold Pursuit.

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